Regional planning policy is important ...
The
Regional Spatial Strategy is being reviewed in 2006 although
it was only published as recently as June 2004. This creates
great uncertainty for local and county plans.
Current
concerns are the change in government policy to move towards
allowing housing to be built where people want to live instead
of "planning" to put housing where it is most suitable.
This means an increase in pressure on the green land of the
Midlands.
Among
the other issues of concern to CPRE are the "Coventry-Solihull-Warwick
High Technology Corridor" (not now called a "triangle").
Solihull Council and Advantage West Midlands (the RDA) claimed
that the area could be developed with "high technology
clusters" without affecting policies of restraint and
harming the Green Belt. We argued that, while the RPGs strategy
is supposed to be directed at urban regeneration of
the conurbation, the affect of the policies for yet more greenfield
employment land on its fringe and widening of the M42 would
cause dispersal and yet more pressure on the Green Belt.
In
January 2007 the Regional Assembly published a consultation
document entitled Phase 2 which is available on the RSS
website. This gives three Options for the provision of
housing up to 2026.
In
September 2005 the RPG was renamed the West Midlands Regional
Spatial Strategy.
More
information is available on the RSS
website and on the website of CPRE
West Midlands.
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